Apparatus for spraying liquid insecticide from airplanes



Jan. 9, 1951 A. c. WILSON 2,537,251

APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING LIQUID INSECTICIDE FROM AIRPLANES Filed May 14, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet l I x L %2. l

42 N Inventor A'nrk C. Wilson, 2

Jan. 9, 1951 A. c. WILSON APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING LIQUID INSECTICIDE FROM AIRPLANES Filed May 14, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Jan. 9, 1951 A. c. WILSON 2,537,251 APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING LIQUID INSECTICIDE FROM AIRPLANES Filed May 14, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor 1,, ,5 awn awe; eys

Jan. 9, 1951 A. c. WILSON APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING LIQUID INSECTICIDE FROM AIRPLANES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 14, 1945 Inventor a W W C. W M y.

Patented Jan. 9, 1951 twis STATES APPARATUS FOR S PRAYING LIQUID INSECTICIDE FROM AIRPLANES Arch 0. Wilson, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Application May 14, 19 15, Serial No. 593,591

I My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for spraying liquid insecticide from airplanes to destroy and control insect life and fungus growth, and for other similar purposes.

The invention is designed with the primary object-in'view of providing efiicient apparatus of few parts and simple construction adapted for easy incorporation in an airplane without altering the basic structure of the airplane, and which is operative by Wind pressure caused by flight of the airplane to discharge liquid insecticide beneath the airplane in finely divided vapor or mist-like form to settle on crops, trees and other growths and eradicate insect pests and the like.

Other and subordinate objects are also comp'rehended by my invent on, all of which, together with the precise nature of my improvements, will be readily understood when the succeeding description and claims are read with refej'rence to the drawings accompanying and form-- ing part of this specification.

In said drawings: V Figure l is a fragmentary view partly in front elevation and partly in transverse section illus- -Figure dis a view in vertical transverse-section taker-i on the line 56 of Figure 3,

Figure '7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation. partly broken away and hown in longitudinal section,

Figure 8 is a View in vertical transverse section takenon the line 88 of Figure 7.

Reference being had to the drawings by numerals, my invention, as illustrated in a preferred form'thereof, comprises, as its basic elements, a liquid supply tank I for a suitable liquid insecticide,'=-preferab1y an oil, and a battery of three propelle'r driven liquid-discharging and va'poriz ing units}, 3,}3 embodied in an airplane 5.

Preferably, although not necessarily, the invention is embodied in a biplane, conventionally illustrated as suflicient for the present purposes, 6: designating the fuselage, l the upper wings, 8 the lower wings, 9 the landing gear, ii] the strut wires bracing the wings, and Il strut rods bracing the wings'to the'fuselage. v liquid supply tank is preferably arranged in" the forward portion of the fuselage '6 in ad- Vance-pf the cockpit I2, is rectangular with a filler neck I at the top thereof, a central sedi nient trap M at the bottom of the same, and may be fixed'in place by any suitable means, not shown.

2 Claims. (01. 244-136) The battery of liquid-discharging and vapori zing units 2, 3, 4 are arranged in a line extending 'crosswise of the airplane 5, beneath the loweri wings 8 and-fuselage 6, and rearwardly of the, longitudinal center of said wings, said units'2, 4; being just outside the circle described by the airplane propeller, not showmand the unit 3 being; disposed in the longitudinal center plane of the;

fuselage 6. Thus, there are two side units 2, 4 and the center unit 3 in said battery.

Each of the discharg ng and vaporizing units 3, 4 is, with exceptions presently noted, a counterpart of the others, and therefore a descriptionof one will suffice fOr all.

Referrin now to Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, the ter liquid-discharging and vaporizing unit 3, for

,1 ,example, comprises a substantially circular, hollow spray ring !5 with its axis extending longi said ring havin a hub H and a top inlet nipple. l 8. A tubular distributing spider l9 supports said; ring I5 in the plane thereof on the hub I1 andis :suitably fixed to said hub, as by welding, not

shown, said spider 59 providing a radial, vertical branch aligned with the nipple i3 and a pair of, diverging branches 2| straddlin the hub I 1.,

Branches 20, 2| communicate with said ring 15 at points in substantially 120 angular relation and may also be provided with rear jet-forming apertures therein, as at 22. The spray ring !5 is provided with a pair of preferably hollow hanger rods 23 having lower ends 24 suitably fixed, as by welding, not shown, to opposite sides of said ring. a

-The inlet nipple l8 depends from the casing 25 of a quick acting valve which may be of any;

suitable type, for instance, with a gate valve member 25 therein horizontally swingable by a crank arm 2? on top of the casing 5 tensioned bya suitably connected coilspring 28 to swing said =1-front end thrust collar 32 thereon opposed member 2% closed. A spindle 29 is rotatably mounted in the hub 51 in end anti-fric ion bear-'- ings 30 reta ned in said hub I! by hub caps 3i threaded onto said hub, t esspindle 29 havin a bearing 3 ll.

clamping s id propeller 33 between the same and said collar 32.

A disc-like vaporizer, or atomizer, 35 of at least the same. diameter as that of the spray ring I5 is provided in the rear of said ring close there-' to and which comprises an'annular rimg36connested the hub 37 byspok s' 38, the rim 36 beingcovered with a disc 58 of reticulatedmaterial,

such-for instance as metal lathing, suitably se'-' cured to said rim, spokes and hub. The vaporizer,

I or atomizer, 35 is fixed on the rear end of the spindle 29 by threading the hub 31 on said spincen-' to one,

die and locking the same thereon by lock nuts 40. An arcuate deflector member 4|, arched in cross section toward the spray ring I5, is provided beneath said ring and said propeller 33 and vaporizer, or atomizer, 35, and is fixed to said ring concentrically thereof by a pair of radial arms 42' extending between the ring I5 and the ends of said member 4| and centering said member below said ring. The purpose of the deflector member 4| will presently appear.

The propeller 33, in the case of the center liquid-discharging and vaporizing unit 3, is smaller indiameter than the propellers 42, 43 of the side units 2, 4 because of the fact that the blast from the airplane propeller, not shown, tends to rotate said propeller 33 and thereby cause the same to rotate at a higher speed than the propellers 42, 43. In the case of the side liquid-discharging and vaporizing units 2, 4, no

deflector, such as said member 4!, is provided for reasons which will presently ppear.

In the case of the center liquid-discharging and vaporizing unit 3, the hanger rods 23 are rigidly attached at the upper ends thereof to lower longerons 44 of the fuselage 6 by clamps 45, such as shown in Figure 7, whereas, the corresponding rods'46 of the side liquid-discharging and vaporizing units 2, 4 are similarly attached to longitudinal spars 41 in the lower wings 8 by clamps 48, as shown in Figure 2.

A liquid supply pipe 48, of thin metal tubing, depends from the trap 14 to the top of the valve. casing 25 for the center liquid-discharging and vaporizing unit 3, for gravity feed from said supply tank I to the valve of which said casing forms a part. Liquid supply hose lines 49, 50 extend from the trap [4 into the lower wings 8 along the leading edges of said wings and are suitably connected, as by couplings 5|, 52, to downwardly and rearwardly inclined pipes 53, 54 leading under said wings 8 to the tops of the valve casings 55, 56 of the side liquid-discharging and vaporizing units 2, 4, respectively. The pipes 53, 54 may be suitably connected, at the forward ends thereof, to longitudinal spars 51 in said wings 8 by clamps 58, as shown in Figure 2.

A valve member operating hand lever 59 in the cockpit I2 is pivoted at its lower end, as at 60, to a clamp 6| on a diagonal strut 62 of the fuselage 6 forv forward and rearward vertical swinging into valve-opening and closing positions, respectively.

A pair of front and rear stops 63, 64 on said strut 62 establish the opening and closing positions of said hand lever 59. Cables 65, 66, 61 extend from the crank arms 68, 21 and 69 on the valve casings 55, 25, 56, respectively, to a mid point 70 on the hand lever 59 and are trained under suitably arranged pulleys, as at l l so that rearward swinging of said lever 59 will cause the cables to open the valves operated by said crank arms 68, 21, 69 and in opposition to the springs, as at 28. The arrangement of hand lever 59 and the cables 65, 66, 61 issuch that the pull of the cables on said lever in the valve-opening position of the lever is below the .pivot 6| of said lever to maintain the same in valve-opening position.

The manner in which the described invention is used and operated will be readily understood.

With the supply tank filled with a liquid insecticide, not shown, the valve-operating lever 59 swung into the described valve-opening position, as shown in Figure 7. and the airplane 5 4' in flight, the liquid is fed into the spiders l9, and to the spray rings l5 of the described liquiddischarging and vaporizing units 2, 3, 4 by grav-' ity feed to issue rearwardly from the apertures I6, 22 in jet form the jets impinging against the Vaporizers, or atomizers, 35. The propellers 33, 42, 43 operating by wind pressure at high velocity cause high speed whirling action of the Vaporizers, or atomizers 35, of said units 2, 3, 4 so that the liquid impinging against the reticulated disks 39 is broken up into finely divided, atomized form to be thrown under the action of centrifugal force to the rims 36 and off said rims with a, swirling action into space in the form of a mist or fog to settle on whatever growths the airplane 5 is driven over. The deflector member 4| directs liquid away from the fuselage 6 downwardly.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to int part a clear understanding of my invention with out further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A liquid discharging and spraying unit for use in the relative flow of air caused by flight of an airplane, said unit comprising a hollow ring having one side perforated and disposed downstream of the relative flow of air for discharging liquid in jet form, means for mounting said ring externally on an airplane, a hub connected to said ring, a spindle rotatable in said hub, a propeller fast on said spindle upstream from said ring and arranged to be driven by the relative flow of air, and a vaporizer comprising a disc of reticulated material fast on said spindle downstream from said, ring and arranged to impinge upon the liquid discharged in jet form as said disc rotates with said spindle.

2. A liquid discharging and spraying unit for use in the relative flow of air caused by flight of an airplane, said unit comprising a hollow ring having one side perforated and disposed downstream of the relative flow of air for discharging liquid in jet form, means for mounting said ring externally on an airplane, a hub for the ring, a. tubular spider connecting said ring to said hub with perforations therein for also discharging liquid in jet form downstream of the relative flow of air, said spider communicating with said ring, a spindle rotatable in said hub, a propeller fast on the spindle upstream from said ring and arranged to be driven by the relative flow of air, and a vaporizer comprising a disc of reticulated material fast on said spindle downstream from said ring and arranged to impinge upon the liquid discharged in jet form as said disc rotates with said spindle.

ARCH C. WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Streif Sept. 19, 1939 

